The Arlington Housing Commission has gotten its first look at a redevelopment proposal expected to bring nearly 400 apartment units to a site across the street from Courthouse Plaza.
Trammell Crow Residential will seek County Board approval later this spring for “Alexan at Courthouse,” a 15-story residential building proposed to replace a 40-year-office building at 2000 15th Street N. As currently planned, the project calls for 394 units totaling about 412,000 square feet of interior space.
Having more housing in the Courthouse area would be a net plus, commission member Joseph Ventrone said at a March 5 meeting.
“It’s a great location,” he said. “The subway is right there.”
However, Ventrone and several colleagues had questions for the developer on several topics. Commission member Bryan Coleman asked about prospective rental prices.
“This is an area that is particularly frequented by a lot of working-class people, younger people in general,” Coleman said. “As we get more density, [we’ll be able to] flatten prices, hopefully, if not lower them.”
Representatives of the developer said it was too early in the project planning to provide that level of detail.
“I don’t know if we’ve even put that together yet,” said Kedrick Whitmore, a land-use attorney with Venable LLP attending the meeting on behalf of Trammell Crow.
Ventrone questioned why the development team hadn’t considered repurposing the existing office building into housing.
Adam Stone, a Trammell Crow vice president, said the project team considered that but found it financially unfeasible. The existing building would only allow for about 180 units, less than half the number sought in the redevelopment proposal.
“It was studied, but there is quite a density gap between what is there today and what we can come back and do with this proposal,” he said.
Ventrone also questioned transportation management around the building.
“Those streets are kind of narrow — where are you anticipating deliveries?” he asked. “And don’t say the loading dock. [Delivery drivers] never use the loading dock.”
Trammell Crow representatives said that was another question to be worked through in coming months.
Another open issue is the number of committed affordable units that will be part of the project. The developer has committed to having on-site affordable units but is still working with county government staff to determine the number.
The proposal calls for 269 parking spaces in a four-level garage. A total of 4% of those spaces would be reserved for electric vehicle owners, while 15% of the remaining spaces could be converted to EV-charging stations as demand dictates.
The project on Feb. 5 was vetted by a site-plan review committee (SPRC), and will be back for a second time on March 23. A community feedback form, open for comments in December, drew a mix of views on the proposal.
Housing Commission members will get a more detailed briefing, and be asked to make a recommendation, as the project approaches consideration by the Planning Commission and County Board.
County officials have not confirmed any dates for final consideration of the project.
While built in the mid-1980s, the office building on the site underwent an $11 million “reinvention” in 2021 by its then-owner. New amenities included a conference center, tenant lounge and what was described as the largest plaza of any office building in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.
The improvements appeared not to help recruit tenants during the peak of Covid. The building currently sits largely unoccupied, Trammell Crow representatives said.
The building’s current leasing condition is reflected in its valuation. Its 2019 county assessment was $87 million, but the property sold for $47.7 million in 2023 and is currently assessed at just $15 million, according to land records.
The decline is even more stark when considering just the value of the building itself. While the land value has remained largely consistent at around $11 to $12 million in recent years, the assessed value of the building has declined from $76 million in 2018 to $3.4 million in 2026.
